Los Angeles - Lower Sales Tax & Banned Plastic Bags?

As of today, July 1, 2011, us Los Angeles residents have two important things to keep in mind while shopping. What exactly are they? Lower sale tax rate (finally!) and banned plastic bags.

Lower taxes, well  just a little lower. Residents in the Greater Los Angeles county will see their sales tax lowered by 1%. Sales tax differs greatly in Los Angeles, but in my area its at a whopping 9.75%, so now when I go shopping I'll only be paying 8.75%. Its still relatively high compared to the rest of the country, but any break is a good one. I should note, all of California will have a 1% drop in sales tax, so some areas are dropping as low as 7.25%!

Another important update for us Angelinos is the ban on plastic bags. While I feel rather neutral about Los Angeles unincorporated cities banning plastic bags, I'm well prepared. I recommend you guys buy some nice long-lasting reusable bags, because if you don't, you'll be paying an extra $0.10 for a paper bag at the stores when you go shopping. Now, since I live in the Greater Los Angeles area, this law doesn't affect me but lets be realistic;  I have a family of 6 so we could easily be paying an extra $1.50 - $2.00 worth of paper bags per visit if we don't use our own reusable bags. That adds up. Remember that many stores DO give credit when you use your own reusable bags, Target gives you $0.05 per reusable bag!

Just some things we should be aware of, I am glad I found out beforehand because as someone who like to SAVE, I would've been upset having to pay for paper bags!

GIVEAWAY - HTC Inspire 4G Smart Phone!

I've had the pleasure of playing around with the HTC Inspire 4G Smart Phone from AT&T's lineup. I currently own an iPhone 4 but have and forever will be an HTC groupie. The first one I had was about 5 years ago when I would roam the halls at my High School with the HTC 8125 in hand and had everyone completely jealous! Who wouldn't be? Smart Phones, even touchscreen phones, were not at all common back them, I just liked to flaunt my beautiful phone, which by today's standards looks huge. The HTC Inspire 4G comes with an 8GB microSD memory card, battery data cable, a/c charger and all necessary manuals.

Before I get on with my review, all my comparisons below will be with my iPhone 4, as it is the phone I own at the moment. The HTC Inspire 4G at first glance is huge, it has a 4.3" display with WVGA (480 x 800) resolution, which I didn't find to be the best. Compared with my phone, the Inspire's resolution is sub-par and not as sharp when watching videos or movies, however, I do like that the screen is vibrant and doesn't get washed out in the sun. What I absolutely love about the Inspire is it's back-lit capacitive touch buttons located behind the touchscreen (home, menu, back and search). The Inspire 4G smart phone runs on Android 2.2 OS and this was my first experience with it. I am a Windows Mobile-type girl but found many similarities with both. Nonetheless, the interface is very easy to use. You have a great array of choices while personalizing you phone, which is not the case with my iPhone 4. I must say, I am a huge fan of these widgets on HTC Sense platform.

Included in this little package of goodness is an 8-megapixel camera with the ability to record video in 720p HD. I took plenty of pictures and was pleasantly surprised at the quality. The camera is great, but the video recording was quite laggy for 720 HD. The Inspire 4G boasts a 1GHz Snapdragon processor and 4GB internal memory, which isn't too bad. Everything loads quite well, youtube videos tend to be a little slower on the device though. The Dolby Surround and SRS WOW sound playback on this smart phone is great! The phone itself feels very sturdy in your hand. The encasing on the Inspire 4G is quite frustrating though. To slide off the cover to expose the microSD and SIM card slots is easy, the problem is removing the battery cover. I had to look up how to do it and it was still quite a challenge to pop it open, luckily I have no need to constantly open it.

The top things that I adore about the Inspire 4G is the social media integration. The Twitter for HTC is beauty to my eyes. Its so flawless, as is its FriendStream which you can also include Facebook. Now, as a blogger, this is a great thing to have. The addition of being able to integrate Gmail was great, but the interface and layout makes me enjoy checking my email via the Inspire 4G as opposed to my desktop computer. All this and the fact that the Inspire 4G acts as a mobile hotspot via tethering. I connected my laptop to the internet with the Inspire 4G acting as a mobile hotspot and was amazed at the speed it loaded websites. This phone would be on my definite to buy list just for that simple reason.

Wait! This is a phone though, correct? Sound quality is surprisingly great. On my side, no echos, weird static or any other interruptions like dropped calls. Same on the other end, no loud background noise just crystal clean voices. Overall the HTC Inspire 4G is a great inexpensive phone (available on AT&T for $99 w/ a new 2/yr contract). As a smart phone, this phone is certainly competition and had so many great features that I'd be here all day blogging about them. The social media integration is just amazing, makes it great for us college students to stay in the loop when we have our heads buried under tons of papers and textbooks. I want to thank HTC for the opportunity to review this great device.

Want to win this HTC Inspire 4G Smart Phone? Click "read more" to enter the giveaway!

Target Weekly Ad for 7/3 - 7/9

Here is a partial list of deals for the Target Weekly Ad of July 3, 2011 I don't list the whole ad, just Grocery, Pets, Beauty and Household. Mainly, only sections that contains items that can be matched with coupons. Remember, Ads may vary, I'm in the Los Angeles Area in Southern California.

New to couponing at Target? Check out the Target 101 starter post for info and policies. 

If you ever need extra coupons or didn't get regional coupons, try CouponClippers.com.

Groceries:

Fresh Green Seedless Grapes, Package (2lb.) $3.99

Taylor Farms Organic Baby Spinach (5oz.) 2 for $7

Foster Farms Fresh Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts $3.49/lb.

Healthy Choice or Marie Callender's Frozen Meals $2.39

-$2/4 Healthy Choice or Marie Callender’s Frozen Meals or Fresh Mixers Target Q

Market Pantry Frozen Family Meals (32oz.) 2 for $9

Market Pantry Frozen Lasagna w/ Meat Sauce (80oz.) $8.99

Hebrew National Beef Franks (12oz.) $2.79

Cinnamon Toast Crunch (12.8oz.) or Honey Nut Cheerios (12.25oz.) 2 for $5

-$1/2 General Mills Cereals 6/19 SS 
Kraft Mayo or Miracle Whip (30oz.) $2.50
-$1/1; $1/2 Kraft Miracle Whip or Mayo 6/19 SS 

Kraft Original Macaroni & Cheese (7.25oz.) $0.77

Yoplait Yogurt Cups (4 or 8oz.) 10 for $6
-$0.50/10 Yoplait Yogurt Cups 4- or 6-oz. Target Q x7/23
-$1/10; $0.40/6 Yoplait Yogurt Cups (includes original, light, thick & creamy or whips) 6/12 SS x8/6
-$1/10; $0.40/6; .50/8 Yoplait Yogurt Cups 5/8 SS x7/2
-$0.40/6 Yoplait Yogurt (printable)

DQ Blizzard Oreo Cookies (10.5oz.) $2.79

-$1/2 Oreo Snack Items 8.5-oz. or larger Target Q x7/23
-$1/2 Nasbisco cookies or crackers 6/19 SS x7/30

Lay's Chips (10.5oz.) 2 for $4

Nabisco Munch Packs (12pk.) $3.99

FREE Powerade (8pk., 20oz.) wyb Any (2) Dasani Water Listed Below:

•Dasani Water (24pk., 16.9oz.) $3.99

FREE Smartwater (6pk., 20oz.) wyb (10) Vitaminwater or Smartwaters Listed:

•Vitaminwater (20oz.) or Smartwater (700mL) 10 for $10

Coca-Cola Products; Bottles (2-liter) 5 for $5

Coca-Cola Products; Cans (12pk., 12oz.) 3 for $13

7UP, Sun Drop Cans (12pk.) 3 for $10

Capri-Sun (20pk., 6oz.) $3.99

Kool-Aid Jammers $1.70

Malbec Wine Cube (1.5-liter) $9.99

FREE $5 Gift Card wyb Any (3) Starbucks Coffees Listed Below:

•Starbucks Coffee (11 or 12oz.) $8.49

-$1.50/1 Starbucks Natural Fusions (printable)

Beauty / Health:

FREE $5 Gift Card wyb Any (2) Schick Items Listed:

•Schick Hydro 5 or Quattro For Women $6.49
-$4/1 Schick Hydro Razors 6/12 SS
-$1/1 Schick Quattro for Women Product All You Apr 2011

Click "Read Me" Below To See The Rest Of The Target Ad:

We've Moved To www.Student-Saving-Bucks.com

Hi Everyone! I'm so exited to announce some new changes going on around here. First off, we are no longer located at StudentSavingBucks.blogspot.com and have FINALLY moved to a .com It has taken a little over a year to make the decision to move, but we think its was about time.

Now, some important things to take into note, I did NOT change the URL much, I have just added the addition of dashes (-) to it. So now, when you enter our old .blogspot adress you will be automatically be re-directed to www.Student-Saving-Bucks.com

What to update?
There is not much YOU really have to do, but if you'd like:
-Bookmarks: If you have us bookmarked, be sure to update the URL :)
-Buttons: If you have my button on your blog, simply change the URL to the new website.

There is no need to re-friend us on Facebook, Twitter or Google Friend Connect. I'm looking into FEED and EMAIL subscribers, not sure yet if you will have to re-subscribe (Update: No need to resubscribe via RSS or Email). No worries about our look either, we might make a couple changes here and there, but not much.

To kick off a new beginning, I've decided to have the HTC Inspire 4G Smart Phone giveaway later this week to inaugurate the new website! Anyone else exited? :)

WUC - Coupon Preview Wednesday For 7/3

Every Wednesday  I will be posting EARLY PREVIEWS available through (WUC) WeUseCoupons.com. I will be highlighting the best deals from (2) particular stores; CVS and Walgreens. Don't worry though, you guys will still have your Target Ad + Coupon Match-Ups too! So make sure to drop by Wednesdays and check the early previews here at StudentSavingBucks. I will have an individual post for each store. This main post will be used to direct you to early coupon insert previews.

This upcoming week you will have (1) Coupon Inserts. The preview(s) are already available below, so click to get a very early preview of the great coupons for this upcoming Sunday. Due to the Holiday weekend, there will be no Smart Source or Red Plum coupon insert.

Coupon Previews from WUC:

•Proctor & Gamble (P&G) 7/3

Target coupons in 7/3 Newspaper:*

Will now be be posted on Thursdays, however, due to this holiday weekend.

*Target Coupons may be regional

WUC has a pay-per-click Affiliates Program. If you're interested click here to join. New sign ups get a $3 bonus! If you do, please list "SSBucks" as your referrer and let me know you did. Thanks

WUC - CVS Early Preview + Deals

CVS Deals on WUC Early preview of the CVS Ad for 7/3 w/ coupon match-ups. The full Ad scan is available. Here are a few highlighted deals from the CVS Ad  7/3 - 7/9: 

Oral-B Pulsar Toothbrush (1ct.) (get $3 ECB) - $5.99 
-$3/1 Oral-B Adult or Kids Battery Toothbrush 6/5 P&G
Total: FREE after ECB and coupon (Limit 2)

Tampax Pearl Tampons (18-20ct.), Always Infinity Pads (14-18ct.) (get $2 ECB) - $3.99

-$1/1 Tampax Pearl, 18 Ct or larger 7/3 P&G
-$3/2 Tampax Pearl or Compak Pearl, 18 ct or higher (6/5 P&G)
-$1/1 Always Infinity 14ct+ P&G 7/3
-$1/1 Always 6/5 P&G
Total: $0.99 after ECB and coupon (Limit 1)

 

Coke Products selected varieties (2-liter) - $0.69

To view the full CVS Ad + Deals, click here